Michael Jordan won NBA All-Star weekend; who lost it?

Feb. 18, 2013
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Michael Jordan and his fiancée, Yvette Prieto, show off Jordan Brand's latest shoe, the Air Jordan XX8, at a party Saturday in Houston celebrating the shoe's release and Jordan's 50th birthday. / Omar Vega Invision, for Jordan Brand, via AP

by Adi Joseph, USA TODAY Sports

by Adi Joseph, USA TODAY Sports

That is, you may have heard of it if you've read any sports-related website or publication the past three days.

Michael Jordan hasn't played in an NBA All-Star Game in a decade. He hasn't formally participated in All-Star weekend in a decade. He hasn't played basketball professionally in a decade. But he won the 2013 NBA All-Star weekend by a large margin.

Jordan's name was everywhere, and his brand status skyrocketed. His quotes on all sorts of matters - primarily Kobe Bryant and LeBron James - were ubiquitus fodder for conversation. His image was everywhere. Seemingly every website on the Internet, including this one, paid tribute to him. His newest shoe, the Air Jordan XX8, launched. AARP even gave him a shoutout.

The Charlotte Bobcats didn't have an All-Star this year, but their owner made up for it.

Jordan is the greatest basketball player ever, so it makes sense that he led the winners. Here's who else won and lost this All-Star weekend:

This is the kind of weekend James might like to forget. He entered the All-Star break as the hottest player in the NBA, on a streak of seven 30-point games, all in Heat wins. Then Jordan started talking about how James is predictable and he'd rather have 34-year-old Bryant. Then James continued his string of refusing to participate in the dunk contest even though pretty much everyone wants him to. Then Bryant blocked his shots twice in the All-Star Game as the West beat his Eastern Conference squad. James finished with 19 points, but he did it on 7-for-18 shooting and committed four turnovers, and the East was minus 13 during his 30 minutes.

Winner: Kenneth Faried

The Denver Nuggets power forward has a reputation for rebounding, but he did it all Friday night in the rookie-sophomore game. Faried won the game's MVP award after a 40-point effort. He then put up a pretty sweet off-the-backboard, through-the-legs second dunk in Saturday's contest, though his first wasn't impressive enough to advance him to the final round. But the best part of his night had to be the postgame praise he received Friday night from Hall of Famers Charles Barkley and Karl Malone, two of the greatest power forwards ever who called him a star in the making.

Losers: James White and Gerald Green

These guys are dunk specialists and were two of the favorites, along with runner-up Jeremy Evans, in Saturday's slam dunk contest. Green won the thing in 2007, while White hadn't competed in an NBA contest but has a long history of impressive showings in contests. They both had excellent first dunks this year, Green scoring a 50 while White tacked on a 45-that-should've-been-higher. But they failed on their second slams, White trying a pair of tricky manuevers from just inside the free throw line and Green going for an unprecedented double-dunk. The worst part is Green managed his double-dunk, putting the ball through a net-less hoop twice in one jump, in his try after time expired. White doesn't play much for the New York Knicks, while Green is a rotation backup for the Indiana Pacers. But Saturday was their time to shine.

Horry won seven NBA championships, more than even Jordan, in his NBA playing career. So this probably won't phase the big man. But Horry, a Houston Rockets legend, put up a pretty pathetic showing in the shooting stars challenge Saturday night. He might be the worst halfcourt shooter in the contest's history, and that shot kept Team Westbrook from winning the event in the final round. Again, though: It's pretty great to be Robert Horry.